James Te Huna replaces Ryan Bader, faces Glover Teixeira at UFC 160

Ryan Bader (15-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) has been forced to withdraw from a planned UFC 160 matchup with Glover Teixeira (20-2 MMA, 3-0 UFC), and James Te Huna (16-5 MMA, 5-1 UFC) has agreed to fight in his place.

UFC officials today announced the switch.

UFC 160 takes place May 25 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FX and Facebook.

Te Huna fought most recently at this past month’s UFC on FUEL TV 7 card in England, where he survived a first-round mauling at the hands of Ryan Jimmo to bounce back for an improbably come-from-behind decision win. That victory was on the heels of another hard-fought decision win, a “Fight of the Night” victory over Joey Beltran.

In six UFC appearances, Te Huna’s lone loss came by submission to top contender Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 127. Te Huna is now riding a four-fight win streak and is 10-1 in his past 11 appearances. Still, a victory over Teixeira would undoubtedly be his biggest win to date.

Teixeira fought most recently at UFC on FOX 6, taking a unanimous decision against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in the co-main event. Though he went to a decision for just the fourth time in his career, Teixeira improved to 3-0 in the UFC and beat his biggest-name opponent to date.

In his UFC debut at UFC 146 this past May, Teixeira impressed with a first-round submission of Kyle Kingsbury in less than two minutes. Booked to face Jackson at UFC 153 in Brazil, he instead met Fabio Maldonado when Jackson was injured and again was dominant, getting a doctor’s stoppage after two rounds.

The California-trained protege of former light heavyweight champion and UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell now has won 18 straight fights with 16 by stoppage.

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